Talk 200: Lecture and podcast series
A new lecture and podcast series to mark our bicentenary: 200 years of making a difference.
Listen on:
In 2024 we’re reflecting on our past, celebrating our present and looking to the future – and Talk 200 invites listeners to be part of the journey.
Released throughout 2024, the series will comprise four in-person and live-streamed lectures, and six recorded podcast episodes.
Our podcast host, Manchester aficionado, author and University of Manchester alumnus Andy Spinoza, will be joined by a diverse line-up of guests from our community – pioneering academics and notable figures, inspiring staff, alumni and students.
Topics will include health, digital and AI, climate change, equality and justice, and more.
All lecture and podcast recordings will be uploaded to this page in video format when released throughout the year, and audio recordings made available on all usual podcast channels.
Podcast series
Talking energy and climate change: “We don’t have hundreds of years to sort this out”
Professor Alice Larkin, Dr Aneeqa Khan and Geography student Aidan Rhode discuss the solutions needed to address climate change and global energy challenges, now and in the future.
Host Andy Spinoza is joined by Professor Alice Larkin, Professor of Climate Science and Energy Policy from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in The University of Manchester’s School of Engineering; Dr Aneeqa Khan of the University’s Dalton Nuclear Institute, and Research Fellow in Nuclear Fusion in the School of Engineering; and Aidan Rhode, a Manchester third-year BSc Geography with Professional Placement Year student, currently on placement at the US Department of Energy Headquarters in Washington DC. He joins on a screen attached to a robot provided by the Autonomy and Verification Group from Manchester’s Centre for Robotics and AI.
The group discuss the past, present and future of energy challenges and the crucial, ongoing interdisciplinary work at Manchester to provide the solutions needed to deliver rapid carbon emission reductions and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
At Manchester, our commitment to addressing global energy challenges is unwavering. As one of the world’s leading research institutions, we’re at the forefront of providing innovative solutions to mitigate climate change while transforming our energy systems – to enable a just and prosperous future for all.
Our research and engagement work extends across the whole energy system, from technological innovation through to societal interventions that tackle inequalities, health and environmental sustainability.
This podcast episode was recorded on 11 March 2024. Listen to the audio version on:
Find out more about the work of:
Watch Professor Alice Larkin’s 2015 TED Talk: ‘Climate change is happening. Here’s how we adapt’.
Watch Dr Aneeqa Khan discuss the science behind the ITER project on Sky News.
Lecture series
‘Health inequalities past, present and future’
Professor Sir Chris Whitty’s lecture considers the main drivers of inequalities and disparities in health, how these have changed over time and why addressing them remains a major public health priority:
This lecture was recorded on Tuesday, 13 February 2024 at the Whitworth and marked the launch of the Talk 200 lecture and podcast series.
Professor Sir Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, the UK government’s Chief Medical Adviser, and head of the public health profession, discusses how as a society we face the hard truth that the more socio-economically disadvantaged someone is, the higher their risk of poor health. The world’s greatest killer is not any one individual disease, but the unequal way in which people are born, grow, live, work and age.
In Greater Manchester, our unique health and social care ecosystem means we can rapidly drive innovation and translate breakthroughs into real-world solutions – which can be scaled-up and replicated across the globe. We have the opportunity to create real and lasting change.
The event also included a question-and-answer session with members of the audience and those joining online, as well as a panel discussion led by the University’s President and Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell and including Professor of Nursing Dame Nicky Cullum and Jane Pilkington, Director of Population Health NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Partnership.
Listen to the audio version of this lecture on:
- Find out more about how The University of Manchester is addressing health inequalities – creating fairer healthcare systems and healthier lifestyles.